Hawaii's Kilauea volcano erupts, releasing 30,000ft plume of ash

Hawaii’s Kilauea volcano has erupted from its summit, shooting a dusty plume of ash about 30,000 feet into the sky.

Mike Poland, a geophysicist with the US Geological Survey, confirmed the explosion on Thursday. It comes after more than a dozen fissures recently opened miles to the east of the crater and spewed lava into neighborhoods.

This Thursday image provided by the US Geological Survey shows a view of the ash plume resulting from an early morning explosion at Kilauea volcano in Hawaii. Photograph: AP

Those areas were evacuated as lava destroyed at least 26 homes and 10 other structures.

The crater sits within Hawaii Volcanoes national park, which has been closed since 11 May.

Officials have said they did not expect the explosion to be deadly as long as people remained out of the park.

Kilauea is one of the world’s most active volcanoes. An eruption in 1924 killed one person and sent rocks, ash and dust into the air for 17 days.

The ash plume at the Kīlauea volcano, taken from a Mauna Loa webcam on Thursday in Hawaii. Photograph: AP